Pros and Cons of a House Inspection

Are you planning to sell your home? If you’re planning to sell your home in the near future, you’ve probably heard of home inspection. But what is a pre-listing home inspection exactly? A pre-listing home inspection is when you, the seller, hire a professional to perform a thorough inspection of the state of your home prior to listing it on the market. Usually, once a property is listed in the market, an interested buyer will typically hire a professional as well for another round of home inspection. This is the exact reason why some sellers opt-out of having their own home inspection. If you’re someone who is on the fence about having a home inspection, we’ve listed out the pros and cons of this process to help you make a more informed decision. PROS

Identifies the Condition of your Home

One of the main advantages of having a pre-listing home inspection is that it reveals the current condition of your home. There are a number of aspects in your home that can be deceiving and it is better to find out the actual condition of your home rather than getting surprised afterward once the buyer has conducted their own inspection. Cheaper or DIY Repairs Another advantage of a pre-listing inspection is that it gives you the option to perform the repairs needed yourself. If the inspection report shows that there are minor issues that you know you can easily repair, then that will save you money down the road. Moreover, if the inspection report reveals major issues, you still have the freedom to select the contractor that you trust and is probably cheaper. On the other hand, if you opt not to have a pre-listing inspection and the buyer is the one who discovers these issues, they might want a different contractor which can cost you more. More Accurate Pricing Having a pre-listing home inspection allows you to get a better grip on the worth of the property. If you are blindly pricing your home, you may have a difficult time selling your home. An overpriced home may lead you to have fewer offers, whereas an underpriced home may cause you to lose money from the transaction. As the inspection report will reveal the condition of your home, you will have a better idea of where your home sits in the market. This will also help you once you have hired a Realtor to assist you in the entire process. Easier Negotiations Choosing to have a pre-listing home inspection can save you from having a lot of negotiations with your future buyer. For one, when negotiating, you can use your inspection report as leverage. Another reason for this is that this prevents any surprises during a deal as you would know what the home inspection will reveal and that the results of the inspection have already been considered with the original price of your home. CONS Additional Expense The first obvious disadvantage to having a pre-listing home inspection is the additional expense. A typical home inspection will cost you a minimum of $200. Whereas if you opt to just skip a pre-listing inspection and wait for the buyer to request for their own, you wouldn’t need to shell out extra money. Going Through Two Inspections As previously mentioned, the buyer will eventually ask for their own home inspection so although it is recommended that you get a pre-listing home inspection, it is not required. There is also a slim possibility that the home inspection report that you get is different from the results received by the buyer. Naturally, the buyer will have to trust their inspection report over yours and you would have lost your leverage. Full Disclosure As a seller, you are required to disclose any findings that you are aware of regarding your property. This includes all of the renovations and changes that you have done to the property. By opting to have your home inspected, you are now committing yourself to disclose these findings to the buyer. Regardless if these are minor or major issues, you must now disclose them and this can be a deal-breaker to certain buyers. In summary, it will ultimately depend on your personal preference. If you’re someone who doesn’t handle stress very well and is someone who needs to know and plan everything, then it might be best for you to have a pre-listing home inspection. However, if these types of situations do not bother you, you can save yourself a couple of hundred dollars by not having one.